Alberta Einspanier Opel
nee Blaes, at St. Louis, Missouri on Monday, June 30, 2025. Beloved wife of the late William Charles Einspanier and the late John Opel, dear mother of Catherine Einspanier, Teresa Einspanier Schlafly (Mark), Susan Einspanier Fauser (Randy), and the late Thomas Einspanier and Joseph Einspanier, dear daughter of the late Omer and the late Catherine Blaes, dear grandmother of Claire Schlafly Tangen (Lars), Luke Schlafly (Jenner), Sam Ferguson (Hannah), Kate Einspanier, Madi Einspanier, Charlie Moore, William Moore, and the late Emily Ferguson, dear sister of Mary Kay Klenda, Teresa Coyle, Omer Blaes, and the late Stephen Blaes, dear great-grandmother of Edie, Jack, and Scottie Schlafly and Baker Tangen.
Alberta grew up in Wichita, Kansas. She was a student at St. Louis University where she met and married her late husband, William Einspanier. They built a life in St. Louis with their five children. Alberta had a love of writing and had a long career as a columnist (Through the Years) with the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. She later became a Copy Editor for the same newspaper until it was sold to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She had a love of history, telling stories and was a talented artist and pianist. In her later years, she re-married John Opel and they moved to Florida where she became a Master Gardener. She and John owned an orchid nursery where they created a new hybrid that was named after her and recognized by the American Orchid Society. She loved to travel internationally to see exotic orchid species and animals. She was an avid Jeopardy viewer, but Scrabble was her game of choice.
Services: Private services will be held. The family kindly requests that, instead of sending flowers, donations be made to the Missouri Botanical Garden or the Missouri Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
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